Tata Interactive Systems and Granada Learning win BETT Award 2006 for "Simulation Explorer"
Simulation Explorer, an educational CD-ROM developed by Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) for Granada Learning, recently won the British Educational Technology and Training (BETT) Award 2006 for Primary Science.
Simulation Explorer, an educational CD-ROM developed by Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) for Granada Learning, recently won the British Educational Technology and Training (BETT) Award 2006 for Primary Science.
The winners of the prestigious BETT Awards 2006 were announced on 11 January at the BETT Awards dinner held in London. Simulation Explorer was the winner of the award in the Science Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 category. Sixty-eight judges reviewed the BETT Award entries on many different criteria, including design and cost-effectiveness, as well as the support of effective learning and teaching styles.
Designed to introduce children to computer simulations, Simulation Explorer follows the criteria set in QCA ICT Unit 3D (Exploring Simulations) and allows children to explore situations that would be difficult or impossible to in practice. It proves especially valuable for real-life activities that are difficult to mimic or take a long time to complete. The exploration aspect encourages children to collaborate with each other, investigate different outcomes, develop discussion skills and progress their high order thinking skills.
The quest for a solution that would help children learn - while having fun - began two years ago, when Granada Learning commissioned TIS to design and develop Simulation Explorer. Working with Granada Learning, TIS designed six activities catering for the needs of upper and lower KS2 children via two differentiated levels. Children can explore the simulations, make changes to the conditions and observe the results.
Jenny Darby, Primary Publisher at Granada Learning, said: "The look and feel of any educational software has to balance the educational values it is presenting with an intuitive and visually appealing interface. TIS managed to capture they very look I wanted and the design was ideal for the target audience. They fed into the creative process and we worked together on every detail of the program. This attention to detail ultimately contributed to the program's success."
Extensive user testing was an integral part of the development process, and TIS received extremely positive feedback on the program.
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